"I made it for you to use when you woke up and put it on your head so you wouldn't lose it, and what's the first thing you do when you wake up? You take it off and lose it. I should have just mentally imbued you with the knowledge of one of the local languages."
"No. It isn't lost," said Gideon haughtily. "It's upstairs on the bed."
"Well," returned the gnome, "you need to put it back on. The spell's delayed residue will allow a few more moments of translation, but I sense it will soon be wearing off. I could weave a translation spell for myself; although it would be easier if you go and get it. We've got things to discuss, and I can't have our discussion turn to gibberish right at the important bits. I will wait for you here."
Gideon sighed wearily and went to retrieve the circlet.
When he came back wearing the circlet on his head, he saw Pyne Calandon sipping on a drink he had ordered while he was away. He had an amused smile on his face, and he was kicking his feet back and forth playfully.
At the moment, Gideon found this very annoying.
"Well?" he asked, voicing his irritation.
Pyne's eyes glinted as he smiled brightly and said, "You want details. I'm sorry, young fellow, but I'm not at liberty to discuss certain things with you just yet."
Gideon balked and began to rise out of his chair.
"I will leave the details of how you got here to be told by the archwizard Ragan," interjected Pyne, raising his hand in a now-wait-a-minute gesture. "He likely knows more about this matter than I do. I was called to service after all that. However, I can tell you a bit about where you are, though. Hmmm?"
Gideon sat back down in his chair warily.
"Okay," he said. "Tell me what you can."
The little man rubbed his small hands together in gleeful anticipation and said, "First of all, you are in another dimension on a different world."
He looked at Gideon, gauging his reaction to this piece of information.
Gideon sat down somewhat stoically in disbelief, unblinking.
A moment passed and still nothing. The gnome decided that either the man did not understand or he was in a state of near-catatonic shock.
"The world you came from is very far away from here," he continued. "So, for starters, you can forget about 'finding a phone' to inform someone of your whereabouts. We have no such things, but even if we used…" he said and trailed off, rethinking what he was saying.
"But again," he continued, "that is for Tauri Ragan to discuss with you. You are in the town of Briarwood, in the lands of Calendor Province, north of Silmir Province and the Bashan Nations, in the central and western portion of the continent known as Ascalon."
"Ascalon?" repeated Gideon, responding finally, unconsciously backing away from Pyne. "Where's Ascalon?"
Pyne casually took another sip from his mug and said, "What part of 'another world' didn't you understand? Ascalon is one of the five major continents of the planet called Illúmaril." Then with a short chuckle, he added, "Now you know where you are."
"Illúmaril? Ascalon?" said Gideon in a sinking voice. This was not what he had wanted to hear. He was expecting to find out he was in some small, out-of-the-way town, perhaps in Ohio. Suddenly, nausea flooded his stomach.
"I don't feel too well."
"Hmmm," said the gnome reflectively as he studied Gideon's reactions with widened eyes. "Ragan said that the outworlder would probably suffer from severe disorientation and incredulity, but I never thought that it would be this severe."
"Severe!" shouted Gideon, who was beginning to draw attention to himself with his raving. "You're telling me that I'm not in my state, my country, hell, not even on my goddamned planet. Of course, I am going to go a little nutty. I must be dreaming! I've got to be!"
"Please control your outbursts, John Gideon," said Pyne sternly. "Try to accept the fact that you have been physically transported to another world. It will be easier for you further on down the road."
Suddenly, Gideon shot forward in his chair and said, "And why should I believe in you, this place, everything? How do I know that I'm not still unconscious? Maybe I'm in a coma in some hospital somewhere. I've heard of people having some real wowsers when they're in a coma. What you are asking me to believe is something unbelievable!"
"Well, I've done what I was asked to do," replied the gnome with a noncommittal shrug. His smile was gone now. "You will either come to grips with your circumstances or not. However this turns out, my part in this immediate business is almost complete. I must be leaving you now. I am very busy, and I cannot afford to loiter on White Council business forever. I do have lands to govern to some extent, you know. Yes, I must get back to Noordlindian. Only the Erradans know in what condition my councilors and my eldest son have put my city by now. Well, good-bye, young fellow. Perhaps you will visit me when you are more accustomed to your surroundings."
With that, Pyne waved good-bye, said a few words, made a subtle gesture, and began to shimmer, then glow, and then slowly disappear.
"Wait!" shouted Gideon after the fading gnome. "Where are you going? You can't leave now! What do I do now?"
"Just wait for Ragan, young fellow," replied Pyne. The little man had almost disappeared, and his words came as a whisper. "He'll be along very soon, I suspect, and he'll take charge of you. Be at ease, John Gideon. You will be safer with him than with anyone you have ever known in your world."
And with that, he was gone.
Gideon stood motionless for a moment, his jaw slack in wonder. He could not explain this latest feat. A hologram? Possibly, but where did it project from, and why couldn't he see the telltale blue lights of it?
It was about this time that Mara and Bessa came back into the room. Gideon sat back in his chair and stared pensively at them as they caught a moment's rest after making the meals. Bessa smiled warmly to him as she wiped the bar while Mara leaned against the wall and stared directly at him. Slowly, he returned the smile.
Just then, the front door opened and in stepped a tall man, well over seven feet in height, with powerfully built limbs and a handsome but rugged face, accented by a close-trimmed black beard that was flecked with gray.
It's the guy I nearly ran over on Earth!
He was clad in a wine-red robe that split on each side below the hip. Along its edges were embellished silver-and-black designs that stood out boldly on the red field. His hand appeared powerful and strong as it clasped the jeweled pommel of a long, gleaming sword that hung menacingly on an ornate leather belt at his side.
"You!" said Gideon loudly to the stranger and pointed at him. "Hey, you! I want to talk to you, buddy."
The bearded man's blue-gray eyes turned on Gideon, and Gideon felt like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer. There was almost a physical force behind the man's gaze, and he had to admit, when this man looked at you, he looked at you with all his attention.
Slowly, the
